Hard hitting, beautiful, feminist and intelligent, the film is not an easy watch. The story is not told in a straightforward way and things do not go the way we expect. Tough and torrid, the tale unfolds in many different ways before us and we struggle, as does the main protagonist, to deal with what turns out to be an almost labyrinthine problem - even though we are only really talking about a couple of guys, their women and some girls. So beautifully is this shot that there were occasions where I seemed to miss a plot point, so in awe of the way some 'ordinary' scene was portrayed, and I assume this was intentional, one of the various means by which we become side-tracked here until faced with the awful and final denouement.

The films of the genius Claire Denis often confuse and irritate American viewers in particular, because my fellow Americans are used to being told a story, not watching an image. In "Bastards" the idea is that too many conventions are dumped out with the scraps. It's difficult to follow something that is deliberately trying to confound your logical mind in order to get you to stop being so logical. Especially if the subject of the exposition is sex, and even more especially if the sex is incestuous--or appears to be, anyway.Denis deliberately cast female actors who resemble each other as a man's daughter, sister and lover. If you're not paying close attention (and even if you are) the blurring of boundaries is shocking. It will take the determined viewer a while to figure out what's supposed to be going on, especially if said viewer is reading the subtitles. I mean, how great is that? You read those little yellow notes and BOOM. This very weird thing is going on, that's not really weird because it's just an accident of appearances and a misunderstanding based on illusion.Got it? This manner of playing with your mind is what Claire Denis does in her films. It's not against the law or anything. But when it all starts to pick up speed and you're trying to understand what's happening in a film that refuses to hold your hand and tell you how to feel, you can end up, well, actually feeling something. Scary! Denis is making an comment on an observation. It's about the fact that models in slick magazines all look alike. Women are reduced to a commodity. One can be exchanged for another. What is an individual when a culture has reduced a person to a member of a class that is objectified? Well? The story within one of Denis' films is what is happening inside your head while you watch the movie. It's not on the screen. Like a monkey in a lab, your reactions tell the story and your reactions TO your reactions are the narrative.Good luck. You'll need it.

"Les Salauds" is one of those slow moving thrillers where it is up to us to piece together exactly what's happening and, more importantly, what has happened to the characters to put them in the situation they are in. We see a fair bit that's troubling, and it's not hard to put together a naked woman, bleeding from the crotch, wandering down a Paris street at night-time, and the later image of a bloody corn cob. Some of the other stuff is more opaque, notably, who each person is and why they are interacting. This is also more important to the story."Les Salauds" tells a tragic story of incest and sexual slavery that is robbed of some of its power by the telling. When the final revelation comes, it's not that shocking, maybe because the aforementioned sights were already so disturbing, or because we are kept in the dark about who the characters are, seemingly to set the stage for one such revelation.There are much, much worse movies in the vein of "don't show, don't tell" - see "The Headless Woman" for an example - but "Les Salauds" is nonetheless unsatisfying in its conclusion. I felt like we didn't get enough from the characters to be surprised about them, as the movie wants us to be.

'BASTARDS': Three Stars (Out of Five) Disturbing and confusing French crime drama film from director Claire Denis. It stars Vincent Lindon, Chiara Mastroianni, Julie Bataille, Lola Créton and Michel Subor. It was written by Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau and tells the tale of a sea captain who goes AWOL to investigate his brother-in-law's suicide and protect his sister and niece from an evil businessman. I found the modern day film noir look and style of the movie to be interesting but didn't care at all for it's disjointed storytelling. I had no idea what was going on most of the time and still don't understand much of the film.Lindon stars as Marco, a sea captain who goes AWOL and returns home to Paris when he learns his brother-in-law committed suicide. His sister Sandra (Bataille) believes a wealthy businessman, named Edouard Laporte (Subor), was responsible for her husband's death. Marco moves into the building of Laporte's mistress, Raphaëlle (Chiara Mastroianni), in order to investigate Laporte and becomes involved with Raphaëlle, who wants to protect her son (from Laporte) at any cost. Marco desperately wants to protect his sister and her teenaged daughter, Justine (Créton), as well.The film was inspired by current sex ring scandals involving rich men and has received lots of rave reviews for it's director and criticism of capitalism. I like it's commentary on society but it's a tad too dark and disturbing for me to enjoy much. I can still respect movies like this but the way the story is told all out of order is far too confusing for the average viewer (and me). I don't think making your film impossible to follow is a good way to make movies but I did like the look and style of the film and think the director and actors show a lot of talent in it.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAydMPYt0Hs